Tag: aircraft

Five U.S. Marines were missing after two Marine Corps aircraft collided in mid-air and crashed into the sea off the coast of Japan on Thursday, in what U.S. officials said may have been a refueling exercise gone wrong. A series of emergency landings and parts falling from U.S. military aircraft have highlighted safety concerns. The Marine Corps said in a statement the incident occurred around 2 a.m. local time in Japan (1700 GMT Wednesday) about 200 miles off the Japanese coast. The two aircraft

Five U.S. Marines were missing after two Marine Corps aircraft collided in mid-air and crashed into the sea off the coast of Japan on Thursday, in what U.S. officials said may have been a refueling exercise gone wrong.

Japan’s defense ministry said its maritime forces had so far found two of the seven Marines who were aboard the aircraft — an F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet and KC-130 Hercules — at the time of the incident.

One was in a stable condition at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, while the second had been found about 10 hours after the collision and brought aboard a Japanese military vessel, the ministry said. No other details about the second Marine were known, a ministry spokesman said.

Search and rescue efforts for the remaining five continued.

The incident adds to a growing list of U.S. military aviation accidents around the world in recent years, prompting hearings in Congress to address the rise.

The Military Times reported earlier this year that aviation accidents jumped nearly 40 percent from fiscal years 2013 to 2017. At least 133 service members were killed in those incidents, it said.

U.S. military accidents are a sensitive topic in Japan, particularly for residents of the southern prefecture of Okinawa, which is home to the bulk of the U.S. presence in the country. A series of emergency landings and parts falling from U.S. military aircraft have highlighted safety concerns.

“The incident is regrettable, but our focus at the moment is on search and rescue,” Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told a news conference. “Japan will respond appropriately once the details of the incident are uncovered.”

The Marine Corps said in a statement the incident occurred around 2 a.m. local time in Japan (1700 GMT Wednesday) about 200 miles off the Japanese coast.

The two aircraft had launched from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and were conducting regular training when there was a “mishap,” the Marine Corps said.

The Marine Corps did not elaborate on the nature of the incident. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it occurred during a refueling exercise.

Officials who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity were unsure precisely how the mishap occurred but none suspected foul play. An investigation has begun.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will miss the opening of the G20 summit in Argentina after technical issues forced her government plane to make an unscheduled but safe landing, German delegation sources said late on Thursday. The government’s Airbus A340 aircraft carrying Merkel and her delegation to the G20 summit turned around after technical problems surfaced an hour into the 15-hour flight, and landed safely at the Cologne-Bonn airport. Delegation sources said a different government plane wo

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will miss the opening of the G20 summit in Argentina after technical issues forced her government plane to make an unscheduled but safe landing, German delegation sources said late on Thursday.

Merkel and German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz will resume their travel to Buenos Aires early on Friday, but the long flight time means they will arrive after world leaders start their discussions.

The government’s Airbus A340 aircraft carrying Merkel and her delegation to the G20 summit turned around after technical problems surfaced an hour into the 15-hour flight, and landed safely at the Cologne-Bonn airport.

The airplane captain told passengers he had decided to land after the “malfunction of several electronic systems”, but said there had been no security risk.

Merkel and other passengers initially remained on board the aircraft, called “Konrad Adenauer”, as mechanics inspected its brakes and several fire engines waited nearby, according to a Reuters reporter on board.

No details were immediately available about the cause of the technical issues. The German military blog Augengeradeaus reported that the plane’s transponder was transmitting the code 7600 which refers to a radio malfunction.

Later, the delegation traveled by bus to a hotel in Bonn. Delegation sources said a different government plane would fly Merkel and Scholz to Madrid, where they would switch to a commercial carrier for the final leg of the trip.

The delay will complicate Merkel’s schedule at meeting where the G20 members already expect to face very difficult negotiations on myriad issues.

Merkel, who had planned bilateral meetings with the presidents of the United States, China, Russia and India, was unlikely to arrive in Buenos Aires until Friday evening, German government sources said. It was not immediately clear which bilateral meetings would have to be rescheduled.

Scholz was grounded on the same A340 aircraft last month after an International Monetary Fund meeting in Indonesia, according to German media reports. They said the issue involved damage caused by rodents.

Lockheed Martin and NASA are building a supersonic plane that will be as quiet as closing a car door 7:11 PM ET Tue, 3 April 2018 | 01:12″The start of manufacturing on the project marks a great leap forward for the X-59 and the future of quiet supersonic commercial travel,” said Peter Iosifidis, Low Boom Flight Demonstrator program manager for Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. As we enter into the manufacturing phase, the aircraft structure begins to take shape, bringing us one step closer to enablin

Lockheed Martin and NASA are building a supersonic plane that will be as quiet as closing a car door 7:11 PM ET Tue, 3 April 2018 | 01:12

“The start of manufacturing on the project marks a great leap forward for the X-59 and the future of quiet supersonic commercial travel,” said Peter Iosifidis, Low Boom Flight Demonstrator program manager for Lockheed Martin Skunk Works.

“The long, slender design of the aircraft is the key to achieving a low sonic boom. As we enter into the manufacturing phase, the aircraft structure begins to take shape, bringing us one step closer to enabling supersonic travel for passengers around the world,” he added.

The X-59 will conduct its first flight in 2021. It will be used to collect community response data on the acceptability of the quiet sonic boom generated by the aircraft, helping NASA establish an acceptable commercial supersonic noise standard to overturn current regulations banning supersonic travel over land.

Read more: Lawmakers pave the way for the return of supersonic flight

This new contract is a separate venture from Lockheed Martin’s work with Aerion Corp. to develop a supersonic business jet, the AS2, which has its first flight planned for 2023.

Lockheed Martin is also in the process of developing the SR-72, a hypersonic unmanned plane dubbed the “son of the Blackbird.” And when it comes to developing a high-speed reconnaissance aircraft, the Pentagon’s top weapons supplier is playing in its home court.

In 1976, the Air Force flew Lockheed Martin’s SR-71 Blackbird from New York to London in less than two hours — at speeds exceeding Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound.

The SR-72 is envisioned to operate at speeds up to Mach 6. And while the hypersonic SR-72 isn’t expected to be operational until 2030, the company sees developing a platform of that magnitude as a game changer.

“This could forever change our ability to deter and respond to conflict, allowing warfighters to quickly address threats before an adversary may have time to react,” Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson said of the hypersonic plane in March.

Hewson also said the development of the aircraft, which is estimated to cost $1 billion, will change the “definition of air power by giving the U.S. significant tactical and strategic advantages.”

The United States is halting refueling of aircraft from the Saudi-led coalition engaged in Yemen, Saudi Arabia said on Saturday, a move that would end one of the most divisive aspects of U.S. assistance to the Saudi war effort. But Mattis suggested a continuing role for the United States in Yemen to help the Saudi-led coalition and Yemeni forces minimize civilian casualties and expand humanitarian efforts. “We shouldn’t be supporting coalition war crimes and I look forward to continuing to scrut

The United States is halting refueling of aircraft from the Saudi-led coalition engaged in Yemen, Saudi Arabia said on Saturday, a move that would end one of the most divisive aspects of U.S. assistance to the Saudi war effort.

Saudi Arabia, in a statement released by the official Saudi Press Agency, said it had decided to request an end to U.S. aerial refueling for its operations in Yemen because it could now handle it by itself.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis voiced support on Friday for the Saudi decision and said it was taken in consultation with the U.S. government.

But Mattis suggested a continuing role for the United States in Yemen to help the Saudi-led coalition and Yemeni forces minimize civilian casualties and expand humanitarian efforts.

“The U.S. and the Coalition are planning to collaborate on building up legitimate Yemeni forces to defend the Yemeni people, secure their country’s borders, and contribute to counter Al Qaeda and ISIS efforts in Yemen and the region,” Mattis said in a statement.

The change comes at a time of international outrage over the murder of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and after Democratic and Republican lawmakers threatened to take action in Congress next week over the refueling operations.

Critics of the Saudi campaign — including Democrats who won control of the House of Representatives in elections on Tuesday — have long questioned U.S. involvement in the war, which has killed more than 10,000 people, displaced more than 2 million and led to widespread famine in Yemen since it began in 2015.

“I’ve been calling for this for over three years,” said Representative Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California.

“We shouldn’t be supporting coalition war crimes and I look forward to continuing to scrutinize the U.S.’s role in Yemen when we’re in the majority next Congress.”

Even as President Donald Trump’s administration has condemned Khashoggi’s murder, the White House has sought to preserve its relationship with Saudi Arabia.

Any coordinated decision by Washington and Riyadh to halt to refueling could be an attempt by both countries to forestall further action by Congress.

Senators Todd Young, a Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, had warned the Trump administration was running out of time to act.

“If the administration does not take immediate steps … we are prepared to take additional action when the Senate comes back into session,” Young and Shaheen said.

China and Russia on Tuesday unveiled a life-size model of a proposed wide-body long-haul jet at the opening of China’s largest airshow, giving public shape to their joint efforts to break into a market dominated by Boeing and Airbus. The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China and Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) showed off the model of the CR929’s cockpit and passenger cabin in a ceremony that was attended by senior executives from both state-owned planemakers. The mock-up, which was

China and Russia on Tuesday unveiled a life-size model of a proposed wide-body long-haul jet at the opening of China’s largest airshow, giving public shape to their joint efforts to break into a market dominated by Boeing and Airbus.

The biennial Airshow China, being held in the coastal city of Zhuhai from Nov. 6-11, is traditionally an event for Beijing to parade its growing aviation prowess but comes as the country is dealing with a bruising trade war with the United States.

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China and Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) showed off the model of the CR929’s cockpit and passenger cabin in a ceremony that was attended by senior executives from both state-owned planemakers.

“Our program is making progress and is on schedule,” said UAC President Yury Slyusar. “It is currently in the preliminary design phase and we are also in the supplier and equipment selection phase, which will finish by the end of 2019.”

The cockpit contained dummy instruments, with actual systems yet to be chosen, including a sidestick similar to the flying control favored by Airbus over the traditional control column.

“It is more Airbus than Boeing,” a senior Western aerospace executive said.

UAC and COMAC announced they would cooperate on a widebody jet program in 2014 and they kick-started full-scale development of the program three years later by forming joint venture China-Russia Commercial Aircraft International Corporation (CRAIC).

To date, they have already sought proposals for the plane’s engine and landing gear.

Chen Yingchun, COMAC’s chief designer for the CR929 program, told reporters that CRAIC would seek supplier proposals from all over the world but declined to comment on whether current trade frictions with the United States would influence their choice.

The jet’s designers have previously said its fuselage would be designed and made by China while the wings would be designed by Russia. Beijing wants the single-aisle aircraft to eventually compete with the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787.

A senior COMAC executive said in June that the CR929 aims to make its maiden flight from 2023.

Earlier, Yusuf Latif, the spokesman of the national search and rescue agency, said there were unlikely to be survivors. In a statement, Lion Air said human remains had been collected in 24 body bags after sweeps of the crash site, which is about nine miles off the coast to the northeast of Jakarta. If all aboard have died, the crash will be its second-worst air disaster since 1997, industry experts said. Privately owned Lion Air said the aircraft, which had been in operation since August, was ai

Indonesia on Tuesday stepped up its search for passengers of an airliner that plunged into the sea, deploying underwater beacons to trace the flight’s black box recorders in a bid to uncover why an almost-new plane crashed minutes after take-off.

There were 189 people on board flight JT610 of budget airline Lion Air when ground staff lost contact with the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft early on Monday, 13 minutes after it had left the airport in Jakarta, the capital.

“Hopefully this morning we can find the wreckage or fuselage,” Soerjanto Tjahjono, the head of Indonesia’s transport safety panel, told Reuters, adding that an underwater acoustic beacon was deployed to locate the main body of the plane.

The search and rescue agency added that four sonar detectors were also deployed in areas where aircraft debris had been found a day earlier off the shore of Karawang, West Java, and 15 vessels were scouring the sea surface.

Earlier, Yusuf Latif, the spokesman of the national search and rescue agency, said there were unlikely to be survivors.

Finding survivors “would be a miracle”, Latif added, judging by the condition of the recovered debris and body parts.

A witness in the Karawang district said he had heard an explosion from the beach around the time the aircraft went down.

“I thought it was thunder, but it was different from thunder —’Boom!’ — It was loud,” said Dadang Hambali.

In a statement, Lion Air said human remains had been collected in 24 body bags after sweeps of the crash site, which is about nine miles off the coast to the northeast of Jakarta.

Authorities told broadcaster Metro TV the bags were taken to a hospital for identification, with more expected overnight. On tarpaulins at Jakarta’s port, officers laid out items retrieved from the sea, ranging from oxygen bottles to personal effects such as wallets, a mobile telephone, cash and backpacks.

Indonesia is one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets, but its safety record is patchy. If all aboard have died, the crash will be its second-worst air disaster since 1997, industry experts said.

On Monday, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board NTSB and Boeing said they were providing assistance in the crash investigation.

The accident is the first to be reported involving the widely sold Boeing 737 MAX, an updated, more fuel-efficient version of the manufacturer’s workhorse single-aisle jet.

Privately owned Lion Air said the aircraft, which had been in operation since August, was airworthy, with its pilot and co-pilot together having amassed 11,000 hours of flying time.

The pilot of flight JT610, which was bound for Pangkal Pinang in the Bangka-Belitung tin-mining region, had asked to return to base (RTB) shortly after take-off.

“An RTB was requested and had been approved but we’re still trying to figure out the reason,” Tjahjono told reporters on Monday.

No distress signal was received from the aircraft’s emergency transmitter, search and rescue agency head Muhmmad Syaugi told a news conference.

The aircraft suffered a technical problem on a flight from the resort island of Bali to Jakarta on Sunday night but it was “resolved according to procedure”, Edward Sirait, chief executive of Lion Air Group, told reporters.

Sirait declined to specify the nature of the issue but said none of the airline’s other aircraft of that model had the same problem. Lion had operated 11 Boeing 737 MAX 8s and it had no plan to ground the rest of them, he said.

Divers resumed their search in waters about 98 to 115 ft deep where the plane went down, soon after Monday’s take-off in clear weather at about 6.20 a.m., ahead of a landing set for 7.20 a.m. in the city of Pangkal Pinang.

The search had been stopped for the night, said Bambang Suryo, an official of Indonesia’s search and rescue agency, although sonar vessels and an underwater drone continued hunting for the wreckage, where many victims were feared trapped.

A Lion Air flight carrying around 188 people, including crew, from the Indonesian capital of Jakarta crashed into the sea off the island of Java on Monday shortly after take-off, according to officials. A statement from Lion Air said that the plane took off at 6:20 a.m. local time (7:20 p.m. Lion Air also said that the flight captain Bhavye Suneja had more than 6,000 hours of flight time while the co-pilot, Harvino, had about 5,000 hours of flight time. “CFM … is standing by to offer any assis

A Lion Air flight carrying around 188 people, including crew, from the Indonesian capital of Jakarta crashed into the sea off the island of Java on Monday shortly after take-off, according to officials.

There was no immediate word on fatalities or injuries.

A statement from Lion Air said that the plane took off at 6:20 a.m. local time (7:20 p.m. ET Sunday). It added that the aircraft was a Boeing 737 Max 8, manufactured in 2018, and was in operation since Aug. 15, 2018. The Boeing 737 Max 8 is one of Boeing’s newest airplanes and a variant of its best-selling narrowbody jets.

An official from Indonesia’s disaster agency tweeted that several pieces of wreckage were found in the waters off the coast of West Java.

The Ministry of Transportation said that the flight, JT610, took off from Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta airport and lost contact with the air traffic controller at around 6:33 a.m. Monday (7:33 p.m. ET Sunday).

The plane asked to return to base before disappearing from radar, according to a press statement from the transport ministry.

Lion Air also said that the flight captain Bhavye Suneja had more than 6,000 hours of flight time while the co-pilot, Harvino, had about 5,000 hours of flight time.

According to Reuters, a spokesman for the country’s search and rescue agency said that a tug boat leaving Jakarta’s port had seen the aircraft falling. Yusuf Latif, a spokesman for the National Search and Rescue Agency, told Reuters by text that the flight “has been confirmed that it has crashed.”

Debris thought to be from the aircraft was said to have been found near an offshore refining facility of state energy firm Pertamina.

A spokeswoman for Boeing told CNBC that the firm is “aware of reports of an airplane accident and is closely monitoring the situation.”

A spokeswoman for engine maker CFM International, a joint venture of General Electric and France’s Safran, said the plane was powered by its CFM LEAP 1B engines.

“CFM … is standing by to offer any assistance required by Lion Air, the National Transportation Safety Committee of Indonesian, and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board,” she said in a statement.

“We cannot give any comment at this moment,” said Edward Sirait, chief executive of Lion Air Group. “We are trying to collect all the information and data.”

Lion Air is one of Indonesia’s youngest and biggest airlines, flying to dozens of domestic and international destinations.

In 2013, one of its Boeing 737-800 jets missed the runway while landing on the resort island of Bali, crashing into the sea without causing any fatalities among the 108 people on board.

— Reuters, The Associated Press and CNBC’s Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.

Boeing shares rose Wednesday as the company reported strong third-quarter earnings on the back of a robust defense business and more efficient commercial aircraft production. The company also raised its 2018 earnings forecast, in what looks to be a record year for revenue. Third quarter revenue came in a $25.15 billion, which was over $1 billion more than analysts’ forecast. Boeing raised its full year 2018 earnings forecast to a range of $14.90 to $15.10, up from its previous guidance of $14.30

Boeing shares rose Wednesday as the company reported strong third-quarter earnings on the back of a robust defense business and more efficient commercial aircraft production. The company also raised its 2018 earnings forecast, in what looks to be a record year for revenue.

The aerospace giant reported adjusted earnings of $3.58 a share, topping Wall Street expectations by 11 cents according to analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. Third quarter revenue came in a $25.15 billion, which was over $1 billion more than analysts’ forecast.

Boeing raised its full year 2018 earnings forecast to a range of $14.90 to $15.10, up from its previous guidance of $14.30 to $14.50. Boeing may see its full year revenue top $100 billion for the first time, as well.

“This strong underlying performance, along with growth across our businesses we’ve seen throughout the year, give us confidence to raise our 2018 revenue and earnings guidance and reaffirm our operating cash flow guidance,” Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said in a statement.

Boeing landed billions in military contracts this summer which Muilenberg highlighted and said was “important new defense business.” The Navy selected Boeing to develop the MQ-25 unmanned aircraft system and the Air Force awarded Boeing $9.2 billion to build the T-X trainer aircraft. Boeing also landed a $2.4 billion contract to build the MH-139 helicopter for the Air Force.

Boeing delivered 190 commercial airplanes in the third quarter, bringing its total deliveries for the year to 568. The airplane-making business had fallen short of estimates in the second quarter but Boeing held to its forecast that it would deliver at least 810 airplanes this year.

“What really surprised us to the upside was aerospace margins in the 13 percent range and they’re raising their guidance for that,” Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

“The company came through and delivered on that business,” Kahyaoglu added.

Boeing shares slipped 2.3 percent over the last three months but the stock is still up 18.7 percent for the year as of Tuesday’s close of $350.05 a share.

For two years Airbus faced a shortage of engines and had to slow jet deliveries. Now engines are arriving fast – but fresh snags mean a Hamburg plant that assembles best-selling jets is having trouble absorbing them, industry sources said. Now, Airbus is introducing a new A321neo ACF version, which offers more flexible cabins but requires complex configuration. Quality problems in Hamburg have also contributed to delays, Reuters reported last month. Still, delays at Hamburg are a headache for ne

For two years Airbus faced a shortage of engines and had to slow jet deliveries. Now engines are arriving fast – but fresh snags mean a Hamburg plant that assembles best-selling jets is having trouble absorbing them, industry sources said.

The internal snags have exacerbated delivery delays that leave Airbus with the challenge of delivering 76 single-aisle planes per month in the last quarter, according to consultants Flight Ascend, 9.6 percent more than its previous record.

Airbus is working flat out to maintain this year’s target of 800 total aircraft deliveries needed to meet financial goals andsingle-aisle assembly lines are its most important cash cow.

“They’re late; everyone is mad at them. They’ve been hiding behind the engine problems,” a senior aircraft buyer said, referring to the tendency of supply chains to focus on the most visible laggards without always tackling problems in waiting.

Other industry sources say Hamburg may not be the immediate source of the problem, but that this facility has felt the worst impact in Airbus’s global jigsaw of assembly plants because it is introducing a new version of A321 just as production is running faster than ever.

That illustrates a wider challenge as planemakers struggle to introduce new models and fix technical issues without pausing record output increases a task some compare to taking the steepest hill in a cycle race at a sprint while fixing a tire.

Deliveries of the A321, a large single-aisle jet mainly made in Germany, spiked higher in May as delayed engines started coming in but slowed down again in September, Airbus data shows.

Now, Airbus is introducing a new A321neo ACF version, which offers more flexible cabins but requires complex configuration.

One of the sources said the Hamburg assembly plant was facing some problems with cabling the jets, stirring memories of cabling problems which plagued the A380 superjumbo a decade ago.

An Airbus spokesman confirmed the customized new A321neo version had “led to some rescheduling of aircraft deliveries,”

in combination with pressure from output increases and the queue of jets still waiting to be delivered from the engine crisis.

Quality problems in Hamburg have also contributed to delays, Reuters reported last month.

Oil price squeeze

Despite disruption, Airbus has said it is confident it will meet single-aisle production goals of 60 a month spread across all its factories in mid-2019, up from around 55 now.

Sources say Airbus is also preparing to make capacity of 65 single-aisle jets a month available by the end of next year, though there has been no decision on whether to implement this.

Ultimately, Airbus aims to raise output as high as 70-73 to serve record travel demand and the company says planes offering premium seats like the A321neo ACF will help to drive this.

Still, delays at Hamburg are a headache for new sales chief Christian Scherer as airlines wait for deliveries.

For many airlines, the financial pain is acute since oil prices have bounced back to $80 dollars: exactly the market the A321neo and similar fuel-saving models were designed for.

“Airlines can deal with planes that are off-spec but not ones that are late. They have built a network plan which takes account of new aircraft in the fleet,” Ascend chief consultant Rob Morris said. Boeing has also had some delays.

Hamburg’s woes highlight the operational issues at stake as planemaking chief Guillaume Faury prepares to become chief executive in April. His two main industrial lieutenants, Tom Williams and Didier Evrard, retire at end-year.

Insiders say Faury, who has made production the “priority of priorities” for this quarter, will not be replaced as president of commercial jets but may appoint an operations leader.

Honeywell beat expectations for third-quarter profit on Friday and lifted its full-year forecasts for cash flow and margins as it rode a boom in e-commerce driven warehouse investment and aircraft production.

Shares of Honeywell, which makes everything from aircraft engines to catalysts used in petroleum refining, were up 2.5 percent at $159 in premarket trading.

Honeywell has benefited from a rise in global travel that has driven record orders for jets, leading to robust demand for its avionics, braking systems and other aircraft parts.

Recovering demand for business jets, for which the company makes engines, thanks to a tax windfall handed to Corporate America by President Donald Trump in January, has also helped the company.

Honeywell increased the low end of its 2018 adjusted free cash flow to $5.8 billion from $5.6 billion, while keeping the top end unchanged at $6.2 billion.

The company now expects full-year margins to rise 19.5-19-6 percent, up from 19.4-19.6 percent. Excluding the impact of divestitures, Honeywell said its full-year earnings will be in a range of $7.95 to $8.00 per share.